


midnight in the manor of capulet

by orpheuus



Category: Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Genre: Awkward, M/M, Pining!, ben loves merc but he doesn’t know, bencutio - Freeform, idk whats gonna happen, it’ll all work out in the end, mervolio???, romeo and juliet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24655222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orpheuus/pseuds/orpheuus
Summary: benvolio, mercutio & romeo break into the capulet’s manor.when trespassing, red paint, and benvolio’s hopeless crush for mercutio meet, confessions will be made, and love may just arise.
Relationships: Benvolio/Mercutio, ben/mercutio
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY: so i suppose traditionally the capulets wear red, and the montagues wear blue, but no one ever said that it couldn’t be the other way around!!! so in my little tale ben & his buddies are wearing red. this should be rather short, but i put it into chapters anyway. enjoy!

they wore red: the color of montagne; the color of blood. the air was heavy with the smell of heat and sweat, and in verona, days like these did not bode well for peace. it seemed that when the idleness of summer warred against its oppressive heat, men sought violence to amuse themselves; for it is known that the blazing sun-god Helios will stop at nothing to stoke anger in the hearts of men. 

and, with both feuding families abroad, some blood was bound to be spilt. 

yet, mercutio’s whisperings seemed to diffuse the air with a kind of lightness, a lightness that the heat sought to oppress. and while mercutio was the most violent among them, he was not defined by that dull anger which so possessed his rival tybalt; no— mercutio was both blithe and vehmental, but always measured shrewdly in his wrath. he was already murmuring his plans excitedly to romeo, and benvolio stood by, definitely not jealous. yes;  _ definitely. not. jealous. _

for almost two years now, he’d harboured a crush on mercutio, but knowing his friend’s lighthearted disposition all too well, he thought it best to say nothing; for he feared his confession would be shrugged off with a smile, or worse— met with a laugh. 

so, he kept quiet. 

but it  _ was _ admittedly  _ difficult _ to avoid annoyance when mercutio ignored him, whispering gaily into romeo’s ear. 

‘it’s fine,’ he told himself, ‘it’s fine. they’re probably talking about girls or something anyway.’ he breathed a long and tired sigh, trying to forget his absurd jealousy and his even  _ more _ absurd crush. 

but benvolio’s lips betrayed him and a grimace crept across his mouth, catching mercutio‘s notice. “are you  _ unhappy _ , benvolio?” he teased, “let me guess: you don’t think this is a good idea.”

frankly, benvolio hadn't really heard what mercutio was babbling about, but he replied anyhow, saying: “yes. it’s a bad idea. we shouldn’t be doing it.” 

but at his resolute word, a playful smirk—the same smirk benvolio had seen  _ far _ too many times before disaster befell them—crept over mercutio’s lips. “oh no,” he muttered, and mercutio’s mouth curled into a smile of ingenious cruelty.

“the charge for trespassing is only like, two years in jail. hell! it might only be a fine of three or four-hundred euros.” 

_ “what?” _

“weren’t you listening, ben? we’re going to break into the capulets’ manor. juliet says they leave the balcony doors unlocked, the fools. we’re gonna sneak into tybalt’s room and trash it with red paint.” his smile widened as he held the paint can aloft, “it’s perfect!” he declared. 

“no.” benvolio said, “no no no no.” he tried to detain them, placing a discerning hand on romeo’s breast, and another on mercutio’s shoulder. he looked them both sternly in the eyes, trying (and failing) to appear both steadfast and pleading at the same time. but the two slipped out from under his grasp with a laugh, and capering gaily down the cobbled street. “we can’t do this!” he cried after them; but it was no use. 

“oh come  _ on _ , benvolio!” romeo exclaimed, “what’s the worst thing that could happen?”

“we could get  _ killed _ .” 

mercutio laughed, leaning against a tawny-yellow wall, overgrown with ivy. “tybalt is too stupid. he has the IQ of a rock—there’s no way he’ll know we’re there.” 

a smile stole over benvolio’s lips at the mention of tyblat’s IQ. the rock was probably smarter. his anxious nature prevailed, however, and the smile dropped from his face. 

“no.” 

“ok,” mercutio said, pushing himself off the wall and drawing from his satchel an scarlet mask lined with golden threads. romeo smiled wickedly and retrieved a mask of his own, holding it up to his face, and tying the scarlet lace behind his head. under the dark contours of the disguise he disappeared; unseen, unheard, unknown. but safe? 

“c’mon,” mercutio begged, “ _ there’s no way he’ll know we’re there. _ ” he crept up behind benvolio and laced the mask’s dark threads through his hair, long fingers grazing over the nape of his neck. benvolio shuddered, biting his lip at the wave of lust that naturally passed over his lower-regions. 

and, for all his keen judgment, for all his reserve, he could not refuse. not when mercutio was throwing a mask over his eyes and breathing softly over his neck. already sweltering in the heat of midday, benvolio could hardly bear the flame burning furiously on his cheek. he took a short breath, and spoke: “fine.”

mercutio and romeo both cheered happily, sending their shouts, like lithe blue-winged kites, up into the summer air. mercutio ran up close to benvolio, and stopped. he took the hood of his cloak between his fingers and threw it over benvolio’s head, veiling his visage in shadows. 

mercutio looked up at him from under dark lashes, beating fast like the wings of a bat. benvolio, taller by only two or three centimeters, looked down at him with eyes wide and wondering. but a mischievous look quickly stole into mercutio’s eyes, and he knew that, even for those few, precious seconds, he had not looked up at him in love. mercutio flicked his hood over his eyes, and advanced toward the capulet manor, romeo and ben following not far behind. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol sorry for the absence! here’s a small chpt 2.

in a few minutes they were standing at the foot of the capulet’s orchard wall. when the two caught up to mercutio, he was already half-way up an olive tree, one leg swung over a branch, another reaching out for the cobblestone wall. “is this the only way up?” benvolio inquired, smiling amusedly. “seems so,” romeo said, pulling himself up into a tree beside mercutio, who nodded in agreement. ben sighed, laughed nervously, and watched as mercutio clambered onto the wall. he rested for a moment and wiped his brow, surveying the land beneath him. then, with a maniacal smile, he pushed himself off of the wall and fell to the garden floor with a light  _ thud _ . 

benvolio laughed and looked after romeo, who had easily gained the wall and leapt down into the capulet’s orchard. the enclosure was too high for ben to see whether or not his friends were still alive, but by their quiet laughter and calls to climb over, he could tell that they were probably still breathing. probably. 

he sighed and set an anxious hand against the tree. the branches were strong and sere and the trunk was bound by thick bands of root. he grasped one of the more sturdy-looking branches and pulled himself up, holding so tightly to the tree that his knees scraped against it, and drew blood. when his feet found another landing, his arms reached further up into the treetop, testing the tree’s security first, then hoisting himself higher. he continued like this for some distance til he came to the top of the wall. yes, his friends were there still; he saw them standing below, looking up at him as tenitavely he reached out for the wall. 

just then he looked down. 

_ oh, god. _

he wasn’t really that far off the ground, but to benvolio, anything above about two foot was of great distance. he swallowed nervously, trying to forget his miserable fear of heights, tybalt, and just about any plan mercutio concocted. he let go of the olive tree. 

successfully he threw an arm over the wall, then a leg, another arm, then  _ tripped _ — tripped??!! he fell forward fast, silently cursing himself for ever agreeing to mercutio’s plan. down, down he went, til—“ow!”—he crashed into mercutio and both fell to the garden floor. he landed right on top of the man he was indescribably fond of— had he not been so angry, he would have been extremely uncomfortable: would have scrambled off of his chest as quickly as he could, a shout of nervous laughter breaking from his lips. but instead he was annoyed.  _ very annoyed.  _ he glowered down at mercutio, and mercutio smiled weakly back. “hi,” he said. ben rolled his eyes, and got up. 

mercutio followed suit, brushing the dust from his long, scarlet cloak, and laughing blithely. 

“well, here we are!” he said, gesturing to the mansion before them. benvolio frowned. “ah, c’mon ben!” romeo laughed, clapping a hand over his shoulder, “it’s no big deal!” 

meanwhile, mercutio made his way to the foot of a frescoed wall covered over with ivy. evidently no one paid attention to that rapidly drawn, skillful painting in years, but neglect was a promising sign: iit meant their entrance would go undetected.

“come on you two!” he hissed, waving them over with his arm. they followed, and began their second ascent: this time up to tybalt’s balcony. 


End file.
